The present invention generally relates to aircraft passenger seats. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, methods, and apparatuses for providing side support on an aircraft passenger seat for a various range of seated aircraft passengers.
Passenger airplane seats typically only provide backrest to support a seated passenger's body, and thus all of the weight of the upper body will be transferred to neck and lower back muscles. During longer flights, a seated passenger may experience neck or lower back pain after being seated for long periods of time. Further, videotape studies have shown that sleeping adults change their body position an average of 11 to 13 times per night with the majority of sleep time spent lying on a side of the body. Similarly, airline passengers may tend to turn in their seats to rest on their sides in order to comfortably rest or sleep during long flights. However, the designs of current tourist and business class aircraft seats do not support a seated passenger's side with full surface contact when they want to turn and rest or sleep on their sides. Poor neck posture and support during resting or sleeping may be responsible for subsequent neck pain and stiffness, shoulder blade or arm pain, or even headaches. Turning to the side can often leave the passenger feeling even more uncomfortable and disgruntled about the flying experience.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to provide improved systems, methods and apparatuses for supporting a passenger's side while the passenger is seated in a seat. In particular, improvements can be made to provide for a more supportive passenger aircraft seat.